Reflections of Teachers Without Borders South Africa 2009

Jim Metz, Kapi'olani Community College

My seventh summer conducting maths workshops with the team of TWBSA was as exhilarating and rewarding as my first. Each year has offered new challenges and experiences. I am still deeply touched by the remarkable spirit, enthusiasm and dedication of the teachers in South Africa. They work against incredible odds teaching in harsh conditions to bring education to the youth of their country and they do on a daily basis, year after year, uncomplaining. They show pure joy in what they do and consider themselves privileged to have such a calling. Body and soul, heart and mind, they are teachers in the finest sense of the word. I am honored to be in the same profession and have them as my colleagues and role models.

Before the start of the workshops this year I enjoyed a few relaxing days with Yunus’s brother Gora at his botanic garden retreat. I want to thank Gora for his warm hospitality and for his incredibly delicious meals he prepared for me and for the entire TWBSA team, (a dozen of us at one time). I want to acknowledge Mrs. Ameena Peer for her support of TWBSA for the past 9 years. Her welcoming dinner is legendary. I also want to thank Yunus and Fuzile for coordinating the workshops at TRINSET. They worked tirelessly for many months before the workshops and throughout the workshops, handling an enormous amount of detail including transportation, housing, classrooms, materials, equipment, food, bureaucracy, laundry, and so much more. At times it seemed we were witnessing a miracle, and I have no doubt we were.

One again, my teammates were outstanding professionals, dedicated, flexible, cheerful in the face of difficulties, and generous with their time and talents. On many evenings we offered extra classes on topics that groups of teachers requested. We were thrilled to have been asked to spend more time with our colleagues from South Africa. Aaron kept the lab open late while the maths and science teachers worked past sunset, and Lyla and Andy continued their conversations with the principals. Yunus and Fuzile and their team were busy making plans and solving an assortment of problems. The place was hopping!

I want to especially acknowledge the generosity of Mr. Pirah Mjamba, a technology educator from a rural school in the Ngobo District of the Eastern Cape. During the week he was with us he volunteered to conduct 3 late afternoon seminars on topics in technology. I attended and enjoyed his inspiring hands-on workshops. I was told that he grew up in a very poor area and through his extraordinary fortitude and perseverance, achieved his dream of being a teacher. He clearly loves teaching. What an inspiration he was to all!

During our weekend at Coffee Bay, Fuzile arranged for us to witness a village wedding, complete with music, singing, dancing, food and local beverage. What a remarkable and memorable experience! This was just one of many highlights, as Yunus managed to provide us with several interesting and enjoyable outings. We had front row seats to watch our colleagues fly at Oribi Gorge. We experienced an impressive display of drumming at Coffee Bay, a stunning moonrise, shelly beach, tide pools and a game park sunset safari featuring a white lion at East London, and a world-class aquarium at Durban. Port St. Johns remains the special sanctuary it has always been for our TWBSA teams.

I hope to be able to continue to contribute my time and talent to this worthy endeavor. It has given me hope, inspiration and purpose. I have certainly received much more than I have given. I was asked by a couple of our team members at the beginning of the trip, “Why do you keep coming back?” Before we had finished the first day of our first workshop they had their answer. No words can adequately describe the feeling I have for having been a part of this project these past years. I am honored and I am certainly ready for more.